Letters to the Editor
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He's pretty good
I'm from both WI & MN (switch between two over the years) and the only two politicians I like in my entire life are Feingold & Wellstone.
I'm not as liberal as Wellstone was but that's ok as I'm certainly not as conservative as the two senator's opponents. In many ways, it's not surprising that these two states have had both of them as senators.
B.N.
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Again, thank you Wisconsin
The voters of Wisconsin are to be given great credit for electing this honest, straight-talking, non-corrupt-money-taking man to the Senate. I hope he stays there for a good long time. It would also be nice if some other senators would support his positions. This man is a HERO! It's sadly telling that not one other senator supported his lead in opposing the Patriot Act. We should tell our senators to do as Russ does. He's been correct about everything. And yes W should be censured for lying us into this hideous war.
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Am I A Democrat?
Whenever I get to the point that I have a problem with the Democratic Party, I remind myself that Russell Feingold is a Democrat. And, once again, I am proud to be a Democrat.
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I love Russ
As a grad student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I was privileged to help Feingold win his first Senate run. I now live in Minnesota, but I bought a "Russ Feingold for President" t-shirt from some guy at the Madison Farmer's Market on the Square last summer. He was running his own campaign to get Feingold to run - that's how much a lot of regular citizens like Feingold in Wisconsin.
But Feingold's probably right not to run for President. He should stay where he can have the most positive impact, and I agree that right now, that's the Senate.
Go get 'em, Fightin' Russ!
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one more reason we don't need Mrs. Clinton...
The funny thing is that the stuff he does is considered so out there. I mean it is really just respectful and honest behavior. He doesn't work or the PACs and lobbies but for the people in his district. Is that loyalty really difficult?
It is called public service not public gift collection.
I think both Clinton and Obama's massive fund raising is questionable. I am not sure either one can or should get elected regardless of how much cash they have. This is not the time to move a bar but time to rebuild what has been destroyed. So much has been broken if we risk the opportunity to rebuild on either of them I will be highly concerned.
I am afraid even if they do get elected they will be totally bought and paid for before they get there.... Alas...
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some more love
I am from small town Wisconsin (pop. 1411) and I love Russ. I'm so proud to say he's one of our Senators. He votes his conscience and, well damn, his conscience just seems to match mine (on impeachment AND on the PATRIOT Act), so it's GREAT! I never have to worry about what the guy's gonna do.
When people were urging him to run for Pres, I was so afraid that the Dem. machine would get a hold of him and take away from him everything that I like in their effort to market him for the masses (well, and the fact that was likely to be dragged through the mud because he's been married a few times, and is from podunk Wisconsin, didn't help much, either).
Plus, as I told my friends: I want him working for US (the podunks from Wisconsin).
In other words, I am not the most objective judge of what Russ's bio should look like. I don't care, though, because I think he's one of the best damned Senators out there.
And, yes, the Wisconsin Idea is an incredible thing. Look it up if you have some free time (you can find info by searching the great Wisconsin Historical Society website). The Wisconsin Idea motto? "The boundaries of the university are the boundaries of the state." The Wisconsin Idea resulted in a robust correspondence education program, the longest running radio station in America (which piped music and art programs into one-room classrooms across the state through the '60s), and arts programs all over the state that are still affecting the small towns they started in. All this while the University of Wisconsin was employing some of the greatest social/economics thinkers of their day.
And, yeah, I'm sure that when asked, Russ can tell you what kind of cheese curds he likes, what he likes to put on his brats, his thoughts on the upcoming season of the Green Bay Packers, and how the Brewers are faring.
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As the saying goes, "Word"
"The funny thing is that the stuff he does is considered so out there."
Thanks, Anonymous. Yes, indeed. (referring to post from Monday, July 23, 2007 08:44 PM).
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Feingold More Of The Real World Than The Author
Actually, calling for a censure of Bush makes a lot of sense. It will give the country information about which Senators support Bush and which don't....and their reasons. It will also set the stage for a possible impeachment trial once the House figures out what to do. If the House exercised its power of "Inherent Contempt", they could give Scooter and all the rest immunity and call them all to testify. If they didn't, the sargeant at arms would simply lock them up in the basement of congress until they decided to spill the beans. As long as Bush has directed the US atty's office to not prosecute any contempt of congress charges that might be brought, the House and Senate have no choice but to use their Inherent Contempt powers. As those called to testify begin to sing, the censure and impeachment will make a lot more sense....as all the evidence will be evident. Let's lock up these lunatics once and for all. John Higgins
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McCarthy-Feingold
This book, I presume, had been planned and timed to coincide with a presidential campaign. Right? D'oh! Which publisher is taking the bath on this waste of paper? Isn't there some kind of carbon tax for the slaughter of innocent trees in the name of this enterprise?
Anyway, ya gotta love the mention of Eugene McCarthy's name in the same article as a mention of McCain-Feingold. For those of you too young to remember, the McCarthy insurgency campaign of 1968 would have been illegal if there had been a Russ Feingold then...
As George Will wrote shortly after McCarthy's death:
McCarthy's insurgency, the most luminous memory of many aging liberals, would today be impossible — criminal, actually — thanks to the recent "reform" most cherished by liberals, the McCain-Feingold campaign regulations. McCarthy's audacious challenge to an incumbent president was utterly dependent on large early contributions from five rich liberals. Stewart Mott's $210,000 would be more than $1.2 million in today's dollars. McCain-Feingold codifies two absurdities: Large contributions are inherently evil and political money can be limited without limiting political speech. McCain-Feingold criminalizes the sort of seed money that enabled McCarthy to be heard. Under McCain-Feingold's current limit of $2,100 per contributor, McCarthy's top five contributors combined could have given just $10,500, which in 1968 dollars would have been just $1,834.30. But, then, McCain-Feingold was written by incumbents to protect what they cherish: themselves.
Thanks, Russ, for keepin'it real...
Madison, Wisconsin; 16 square miles surrounded on all sides by reality...